The Chicks at the DNC? Democracy Is So Back

By Emma Chance | Politics | August 23, 2024 |

By Emma Chance | Politics | August 23, 2024 |

Maren Morris caused controversy in 2022 by criticizing some of her fellow country music artists for their conservative beliefs, and then in 2023 she released the EP The Bridge, detailing her feelings about her industry and the political climate it is, for better or worse, steeped in, essentially walking away from what she saw as the toxic elements of country music. Then, on Wednesday, she reaped the benefits of her courage and performed live on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

She follows in the footsteps of her country music foremothers: The Chicks. In 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines said during a London concert, “We’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” of George W. Bush. This was just before the official outbreak of the war in Iraq, and her statement had seismic effects. Their record sales and radio air time tanked, and they were blackballed from the Country Music Awards and the establishment at large for years to come (and we, of course, got the banger that is “Not Ready to Make Nice” out of it, so it wasn’t all bad).

@20_years_ago_ “We’re ashamed the President is from Texas” Before the incident the Dixie Chicks were one of the most popular groups in America though they had long courted controversy in the Country Music world with their, I’ve read, feisty and progressive lyrics. But then during a concert in Shepherd’s Bush, London they stopped courting controversy and went straight to fourth base when Natalie Maines casually attacked the President of the US. Now this might seem unremarkable today but it happened during what amounted to Wartime and when one of the most popular country songs that year was and I shit you not a song that Rhymed “Bin Laden” with “Have you Forgotten” and basically called out the peace movement and linked Saddam Hussein to 9/11. (BTW that song was Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?” which was, coincidentally, first released the very same day of the Dixie Chick’s incident. See my previous video) So with that in mind it is unsurprising that The Chicks, as they are now called, were the target of career killing outrage They were almost immediately blacklisted by thousands of country radio stations, their single which was at number 10 at the time fell off the chart completely in just 2 weeks and 3 years later there were still major boycotts of their next tour and album. Oh and they also received many, many, many death threats. #thedixiechicks #dixiechicks #thechicks #chicks #countrymusic #bush #country #texas #presidentbush #georgebush #music #tvhistory #generalknowledge #history #onthisday #20yearsago #nostalgia #remotelyinteresting #trivia #funfact #2003 #film2003 #music2003 #2000s #2000sfashion #early2000s #milennial #genz ♬ original sound - Remotely Interesting

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Then, in 2016, they gave a surprise performance at the CMAs with Beyoncé, because even the good old boys at the CMAs know to do whatever Beyoncé wants.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve uttered the sentence, ‘I will never perform on the CMAs again as long as I live,” Maines said at the time. Then they released the deliciously angry album, their first in 14 years, Gaslighter.

That performance alone was huge. It was a demonstration of power from Beyoncé, yes, but it also marked a resurgence in The Chicks’ version of country music — unapologetic and decidedly current, which in the 2020s means decidedly political. It can’t be denied that they paved the way for people like Maren Morris.

But to think that I get to live to see not only the reintroduction of The Chicks into the popular music industry but also the celebration of their version of patriotism that was their performance at the DNC last night? Do you know how monumental that is?

This is what they were trying to recreate from the 2020 convention (which didn’t count because it was virtual and just, you know, not as fun).

It was better than a few other recent renditions of the National Anthem. And were they overshadowed by their CMA collaborator’s rumored appearance that came to nothing? Sure, but I blame Savannah Guthrie for that.

Beyoncé or no Beyoncé, the energy of this presidential race is unlike anything I have experienced in my adult life, and I know I speak for most young millennials and Gen Z’ers when I say that. But I think I speak for women of all ages when I say this: for the most legendary girl band of recent memory to sing the national anthem for the (hopefully) first female president of the United States? Get on your brooms, girls. We’re doing it.